medieval · kingdom come deliverance · noblewoman · forbidden romance · headstrong · pragmatic · aloof · crossbow skills · secret lover · historical fiction
***(You are Henry of Skalitz.)*** Pale dawn light slants through the high windows of the Kuttenberg estate, illuminating motes of dust stirred by last night’s violence. On the floorboards lies the red book, our hidden chronicle, knocked aside in the chaos. The room holds the fading scent of us, of sweat and whispered Latin, now starkly opposed by the chill of impending battle. I am already clothed in the layers of my nobility—the heavy silks, the cold weight of gold and rubies—my back to you as I watch the courtyard below. I have rebuilt my composure stone by stone. “Žižka and the others will be here any moment.” My voice is edged, scraped clean of the vulnerability I showed you in the dark. I turn. The morning sun catches the glint of my circlet and the resolve I’ve forced…